The Virgin Birth

 

 

Matt. 1:18-25; 22:29

 

Prayer

 

In our modern society, a young couple often goes thru several stages before

they get married.

The 1st stage is called "dating."

 

When a young girl goes out on her first date, mom and dad may come close to       

having a heart attack.

But LEGALLY SPEAKING it isn't very serious.

 

You young girls need to remember this.

Your first date will be hard on your mom and dad.

 

The 2nd stage is called "going steady."

Things begin to get a little more serious about this time.

 

The young couple supposedly doesn't date anyone else.

They may even swap class rings.

 

The 3rd stage is called "engagement."

This means the young couple plans to get married.

 

They might do it and they might not.

Lots of engagements get broken.

 

The 4th stage is called "marriage."

That's what I want you to see.

There are four stages in our modern society:

Dating, going steady, engagement, and marriage.

 

It was the same in our Lord's day.

Young people went through stages.

 

The 1st stage was called "engagement."

The 2nd stage was called "betrothal" or "espousal.

 

The 3rd stage was called "marriage."

Engagement was often arranged by the parents.

 

In some cases, the young couple didn't even know each other.

They hadn't even seen each other.

 

But they were engaged.

That's why their engagement wasn't legally binding.

 

Why it was easy to break.

Betrothal or espousal was a different matter.

 

That was a solid commitment to get married.

It took a divorce to break it.

 

This was the stage Joseph and Mary were in when Jesus was conceived.

They weren't married,

 

But their commitment to marry was legally binding.

They had to get a divorce or they would be married.

 

But Mary got pregnant before the marriage was finalized.

And there was a big problem.

 

The child wasn't Joseph's.

Matthew said Mary's child was a child of the Holy Ghost.

 

He said Mary was a virgin.

Today, I want to talk about the Virgin Birth.

 

Some don't believe in it.

But their unbelief isn't because the Bible doesn't teach it.

 

Their unbelief is because they err. And they err for two reasons:

 

          1. They don't know the Scriptures, and

          2. They don't know the power of God.

 

Matthew said Mary was found with a child of the Holy Ghost;

Not a child of Joseph;

 

A child of the Holy Ghost (Matt. 1:18).

The Father of Jesus was no less than God Himself.

 

Mary knew that this was would happen.

The angel Gabriel told her.

 

But Joseph hadn't been told.

So when Mary turned up pregnant it was a big problem for him.

 

He pondered what to do.

He had four choices:

 

One---Joseph could accuse Mary of adultery.

If she was found guilty, he could have her stoned to death.

 

This seems harsh to us.

But it's still practiced in the Middle East today.

 

A Moslem girl can be killed, if she is even suspected of having pre-marital     

sex.

Two---Joseph could make a public example of Mary;

 

Expose her, embarrass her and punish her.

Pre-marital sex was disgraceful in those days.

 

Three---Joseph could put Mary away privately;

Get a quiet divorce.

 

God's against divorce.

But He will permit it on the grounds of adultery.

 

Four---Joseph could let the marriage go through.

And act like Jesus was his child.

 

He had these four options.

He was thinking about what to do.

 

Matthew said, "he was minded to put Mary away privately."

Joseph must've been a good man.

He wouldn't have Mary stoned.

He wouldn't make a public example out of her.

 

He would just get a quiet divorce.

Most of us would sympathize with Joseph.

 

He was in a difficult position.

His future wife was about to become a public embarrassment.

 

He was trying to decide what to do.

He certainly wasn't thinking about a Virgin Birth.

 

He clearly believed that Mary was unfaithful.

I ask you men to put yourself in his position.

 

Suppose you're engaged to get married,

The girl you're engaged to turns up pregnant,

 

You're not the father.

She says, “I haven't been unfaithful.”

 

"It has to be a miracle birth."

"Sure lady!"

 

"And I want to sell you the Brooklyn Bridge."

So Joseph was thinking about getting a quiet divorce.

 

But while he was thinking about it, the Angel of the Lord appeared unto him.

The Angel of the Lord said, "Don't be afraid to marry Mary."

 

"She's under the power of God."

Joseph believed the Angel.

 

I want to look at Mary's reaction for just a minute.

Some time before Joseph learned about this problem an angel appeared unto Mary.

 

The angel said she would be the mother of Jesus.

Mary questioned it.

 

She wasn't thinking about a Virgin Birth either.

She asked, "How can this be, seeing I know not a man?"

 

She didn't understand it.

And she wasn't thinking about the power of God.

 

The angel said, "With God nothing shall be impossible".

That's the explanation.

 

God can do anything He wants to do.

He created the first couple.

 

Childbirth was His idea.

He performed miracles and caused barren women like Sarah and Hannah to  

conceive.

 

He can cause a Virgin Birth.

Mary believed this.

 

But what about others?

Some call Mary an adulteress.

 

Some call Jesus an illegitimate child.

Some commit blasphemy not knowing the Scriptures.

 

And not knowing the power of God.

They don't believe in the Virgin Birth.

 

I want to point out some things in the Scriptures.

1st---The Virgin Birth has been anticipated since the Garden of Eden.

 

It can actually be traced back to the fall of Adam and Eve.

God put a curse upon Satan for tempting them.

 

He said, "I will put enmity between thee and the woman and between thy       

seed and her seed;"

"It shall bruise thy head;"

 

"And thou shalt bruise his heel" (Gen. 3:15).

This is a prophecy about the Virgin Birth.

 

The word "seed" means sperm.

Men have seed or sperm.

 

But women don't have seed or sperm.

There's no such thing as a "seed of woman,"

 

So the birth from a "seed of woman" would have to be a miracle birth.

It was expected from the very beginning of the creation.

2nd---The Virgin Birth was clearly prophesied.

Isaiah said, "The Lord Himself shall give you a sign."

 

"Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name        

Immanuel" (Isaiah 7:14).

Isaiah said, "a virgin shall conceive."

 

That's what the King James Version of the Bible says---"A virgin shall  

conceive."

The Modern Language Version also says, "A virgin shall conceive."

 

But when the Revised Standard Version first came out, it said, "A young       

woman shall conceive."

And a footnote said, "or virgin."

 

That caused a fire storm.

Many Christians refused to buy the Revised Standard Version because it said,        

"A young woman shall conceive."

 

So the publishers quickly came out with a New Revised Standard Version that        

says, "A virgin shall conceive."

The Living Bible says, "A virgin shall conceive."

 

But a footnote in the Living Bible says the word sometimes means virgin and

sometimes means young woman.

That's exactly right.

 

And those who deny the Virgin Birth choose to say Isaiah meant young        

woman.

But those who believe in the Virgin Birth point to something else.

 

Isaiah said, "The Lord Himself shall give you a (what)-a SIGN."

God will give you a sign.

 

Webster says a sign is something unusual, a symbol or a miraculous    

demonstration of Divine power.

I ask, "Is it unusual for a young woman to bear a child?"

 

No!

Young women bear children every day.

 

That's not unusual.

But it would be unusual, if a virgin bore a child.

 

That would be sign.

So we conclude that Isaiah prophesied the Virgin Birth.

 

God's sign would be a miraculous demonstration of God's power.

But there's more.

 

The Hebrew word that's sometimes translated virgin and sometimes    

translated young woman is almah.

God called Isaac's bride Rebecca an almah (Gen. 24:43; Isa. 7:14).

 

But He didn't stop by calling her an almah.

He defined it for us.

 

He said, "neither had any man known her" (Gen. 24:16).

I want to tell you something about myself.

 

I'm so convinced that Isaiah prophesied the Virgin Birth,

That before I buy a Bible or a Bible commentary, I open it to Isaiah 7:14.

 

If it says “A virgin shall conceive," I might buy it.

If it says “A young woman shall conceive," I won't buy it.

 

3rd--Three out of the four gospels either declare or imply the Virgin Birth.

Matthew plainly said Jesus is a child of the Holy Ghost (1:18).

 

He plainly said the birth of Jesus fulfilled the prophecy which said, “Behold a         

virgin shall be with child and shall bring forth a Son" (Matt. 1:23).

But there's more.

 

When we look at the genealogy of Jesus given in the first sixteen verses of    

Matthew,

We notice that Matthew said. somebody "begat" somebody thirty-eight times.

 

Abraham "begat" Isaac.

Isaac "begat" Jacob.

 

Jacob "begat" Judas.

Thirty-eight times somebody begat somebody.

 

But when Matthew came  to the thirty-ninth person, which was Joseph, he     

didn’t say Joseph begat Jesus.

He said, "Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus,        

who is called Christ."

 

Matthew said Joseph was the husband of Mary.

Mary  begat Jesus.

 

He didn't say Joseph begat Jesus because Joseph didn't have anything to do

with the birth of Jesus.

Jesus was a child of the Holy Ghost.

 

Luke declared the Virgin Birth.

This is significant because Luke was a doctor.

 

If anyone is qualified to question the Virgin Birth (and no one is), it would be          

a doctor.

But Dr. Luke declared it.

 

John didn't declare the Virgin Birth.

But he implied it several times.

 

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son" (Jn. 3:16).

"Begotten" means born of.

 

Jesus was begotten or born of God;

A child of the Holy Ghost.

 

4th---Paul implied the Virgin Birth.

He said, "When the fullness of time was come, God sent forth HIS SON"    

(Gal. 4:4).

 

Jesus was God's Son.

5th---Paul preached the Virgin Birth.

 

He got saved on the road to Damascus.

A bright Light blinded him (Acts 9).

 

Friends took him to the home of a man called Judas.

His sight was restored.

 

And he "straightway preached Christ in the Synagogues that He IS the Son of        

God" (Acts 9:20).

Paul's very first sermon declared the Virgin Birth.

 

6th---I want to discuss the power of God just a minute.

Some people doubt that God can cause a Virgin Birth.

 

Some mock and scoff.

But we live in a day of "sperm banks" and "test tube babies;"

 

A day when the Virgin Birth is possible;

A day when some say it's already happened.

 

If highly trained doctors can do it,

Isn't it possible that God can do it?

 

Are we to believe that man has learned to do something that God can't do?

One final point.

 

The Angel of the Lord not only told Joseph about Mary's baby,

He also told Joseph to name the baby "Jesus" because He shall save His       

people from their sins.

 

"Jesus" means Savior.

"And there is no other name under heaven, given among men, whereby we    

must be saved" (Acts 4:12).

 

Jesus saves us from our sins.

His Virgin Birth means that He was special.

 

His blood was special.

His Father was special.

 

His nature was special.

His miracles were special.

 

His teachings were special.

Everything about Jesus was special.

 

He was sinless.

His death was an injustice.

 

So God used it to pay our sin debt.

"Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things as silver and gold,"

 

"But with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and       

without spot" (I Peter 1:18,19).

“The blood of Jesus Christ God's Son cleanses us from all sin" (I John 1:7).

 

Cleansing is God's gift to you.

But you have to believe in Jesus to receive it.

 

Do you believe in Jesus?

We have to say so.

 

But we can't stop there.

We're right to accept Jesus as our Saviour.

But we also have to let Him be the Lord of our life.

Jonathan Edwards said, "Those who have truly come to Christ have come to          

Him to make them better."

 

One of Satan's favorite weapons is to make us think that we can be a saved  

without changing;

That we can be a saved and do whatever we want to do.

 

It doesn't work that way.

That's being lukewarm.

 

Lukewarm is hell-bound.

The saved are a new creation.

 

His way is our way.

We can’t ignore Church attendance, raising our children in the nurture the      

Lord, growing in Christ, and things like that.

 

A trend has developed among some Church members in recent years.

Some seem to think that there is such a thing as "common" or “respectable”

sin;"

 

That leaving Jesus out of their life is so common it's respectable.

Sin is common.

 

But sin is never respectable.

Sin is sin.

 

It separates us from God.

If it continues without repentance, the time will come when He will hold us

responsible.

Jesus is the Virgin Born Son of God.

The saved have accepted Him as Lord.

 

"God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and     

Christ" (Acts 2:36).